US futures head higher ahead of Fed meeting

FILE-In a Friday Sept. 7, 2012, file photo, a specialist works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks slipped Monday, Sept 10, 2012, as troubling economic news from China and the U.S. outweighed optimism about more stimulus from the Federal Reserve. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
— AP

FILE-In a Friday Sept. 7, 2012, file photo, a specialist works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks slipped Monday, Sept 10, 2012, as troubling economic news from China and the U.S. outweighed optimism about more stimulus from the Federal Reserve. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
/ AP

NEW YORK 
U.S. stock futures rose Tuesday though many investors are waiting on the sidelines for what could potentially turn into critical developments in both the U.S. and in Europe.

Germany's high court rejected a last-minute plea Tuesday to postpone a ruling that could block the country's approval of a permanent bailout fund for the European Union. Calls for an injunction from conservative lawmakers who say the fund violates the country's constitution now goes to the country's Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

And global markets remain focused intensely on the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose monetary policymaking body gathers for a two-day meeting that begins Wednesday. Most expect the Fed to take some sort of action to revive an economy that is in danger of stalling.

Events in Europe are playing a big roll on the Fed's potential action.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that the trade gap with Europe rose to the highest level since October 2007. Exports to Europe fell 11.7 percent and there are fears that the spreading recession across the Atlantic will smother a fragile U.S. recovery.